Full House
by LoveIsAlwaysLouder
Summary: Caroline Forbes isn't exactly looking forward to moving in with fathers girlfriends new family, and sharing a bedroom wall with Klaus Mikaelson doesn't make things any easier.
1. Chapter 1

Full house chapter one: Moving in

" Isn't it beautiful Caroline?" Her father asked as she wrapped a strong arm around her daughter's shoulders.

" Yeah" Caroline said sarcastically. " stunning." They were standing outside of a large plantation house in Virginia. The truth was the house was beautiful, stunning even , but Caroline couldn't be any less pleased about being there. It was only a month ago that her Dad had announced that they'd be moving from Charlotte to the quiet sleepy town of Mystic falls. Caroline might have been a little less bitter about the move if her father wasn't up rooting her whole life just some girl. It wouldn't be such a big deal if Caroline wasn't having to give up spending her senior year of high school with all the friends she had grown up with and her boyfriend of two years.

Bill had met some random women on a business trip to london a few months ago, and all of the sudden he was claiming that they were in love, and they'd be moving to the land he had just bought them in the middle of nowhere. Her father had sold his condo in downtown Charlotte in favor of acreage on the outskirts of the sleepy town with a population under five thousand. The plantation house was a bright white with pillars and classic shutters. It packed onto a stretch of polished green and finally broke into a forest.

All Caroline wanted to do what throw down the boxes in her arms and kick down the sold sign on the front lawn and throw a hissy fit the way she did when she was little and didn't get her way.

Her father squeezed her shoulders, and then hissed in her ear.

" Please stop pouting Caroline. This isn't the end of the world." he gave her daughter's shoulder one last pat and then sprung up the steps to met his girlfriend who was standing at the top of them.

Esther was nice enough, and it wasn't as if Caroline cared that her father was dating her, she did care that she had to leave her life behind in order for her father to be with her. Not to mention that Esther had some crazy number of kids, and having lived as an only child her whole life she wasn't exactly looking forward to having to share a bathroom with a bunch of other hormonal teens. She hadn't met any of esther's kids yet. She doubted they were excited to be moving in with her either. Compared to them, Caroline guessed she didn't have it that bad, at least when she moved she was still in the same country. Esther's family was moving from england, and no offense to her father, but she couldn't really imagine anyone being willing to move across the ocean just to be with him.

Caroline knew almost nothing about Esther, let alone her children. All she knew is that there were six of them, but only four would actually be living with them in Virginia.

One of them was way younger, a kid, but she thought the other three were somewhat close to her age. Her dad had thought that one of the boys may even be in her grade. In that case he was in the same boat as her, having to switch highschool for their senior year.

Caroline had only met Esther once, over a somewhat awkward dinner in Charlotte the month before when her father had dropped the bomb that they'd all be becoming one big happy family in Virginia. It was a wise choice really, because her father knew she couldn't explode in a restaurant full of people. Caroline had somewhat of a flare for the dramatics and a short fuse, but even she wouldn't scream and shout and stomp her feet in an upscale steak house.

…..

Esther opened her arms as if to welcome them to the house before descending down the porch steps to greet them. Esther stopped halfway down the steps and then turned, yelling backwards into the house, attempting to summon her children.

" I'm so happy you're here." Esther simpered, quickly kissing Bills cheek before moving to embrace Caroline. Esther wrapped her arms around Caroline and squeezed more than Caroline deemed necessary. This wasn't a quick hug either, but rather Esther swayed them back and forth as she mused at how excited she was about the whole thing. Caroline didn't want to be rude, but it was the afternoon in mid august with the sun high in the sky, making physical contact hot, sticky and more than slightly uncomfortable.

"Let the poor girl go mother, you're going to give her heatstroke." Esther let go of Caroline's at the sound of her children's voice. The four children, if you could call them that, had arrived on the porch and were staring down at the scene unfolding on the lawn before them.

"Ahh, great, kids come meet the forbes." Esther said enthusiastically, gesturing for her children to join her on the grass.

" Can't you all come up here into the shade. I don't want to burn." the only girl of the four asked, shielding her eyes with her hand. Esther rolled her eyes at her daughter, but lead Bill and Caroline up the walk and onto the porch. To tell the truth, Caroline was grateful to be out of the direct sun.

" Kids this is Bill and his daughter Caroline and these are my children, Henrick" she gestured to the youngest boy who must have been about nine or ten.

" Rebekah and Kol" Esther continued motioning to the two who Caroline assumed were twins around the age of fifteen.

" and Klaus." She finished, referring to the boy who had first spoken when they had entered the porch,.

Alright. She would admit it. He was hot. Hot to the point where she had to focus on not letting her jaw go slack and flat out staring. _Stop it Caroline._ She thought to herself. _These are not the thought_ s _of a girl with a boyfriend._ Sure Tyler lived back in Charlotte and that was nearly five hours away, but they were going to make it work. In theory they would both be attending Duke next fall. With that in mind Caroline kept her composure and shot Esther's kids a tight smile. Esther began to discuss her two older children who were both attending university in England, but no one besides Bill was even pretending to listen. Caroline began to shuffle towards the door to the house, wanting to escape the heat and this all together awkward conversation. Bill seemed to notice his daughters movement towards the door, and took the opportunity to encourage Caroline and the other kids to head into the house to unpack/ continue to unpack.

" Your rooms at the top of the second set of stairs Care." Her father advised as Caroline moved past him into the house. She climbed the first set of stairs and crossed the hallway towards a smaller flight of stairs that was much narrower than the first. The third floors ceilings were slopped in and narrower than that of the lower floors . There was a bathroom on the same wall as the stairs and two other doors, presumably bedrooms directly across the hall.

Caroline entered the room that was presumably hers, the specifically marked boxes piled around the room were a dead give away. After less than ten minutes of lugging and unpacking boxes Caroline was exhausted. It wasn't exactly back breaking work, but the temperature in her room had climbed to almost an unbearable heat. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, and although the house was beautiful it didn't seem to have working central air. She whipped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and was just about to start in on another box when she heard a clatter near the entrance to her bedroom. She twisted around to see that the eldest boy, Klaus, had dropped a tall floor fan in her doorway.

" Trust me. You'll need it." He dead panned before talking into the bedroom right next door.

…

During Dinner that night Caroline got a slightly clearer picture of why Esther and Bill thought they were so well suited for each other. They were both absolute workaholics. Bill consulted on dozens of projects a year and was hardly ever home, while Esther was always out promoting whatever book she had recently released. Esther had written several books on Parenting, Family, Divorce, Single- Parent households and seemed to be working on another based on blended families.

That wasn't what they were was it? It's not like Bill and Esther were get getting married. Caroline thought of these people as more of forced roommates then future family members. It's not like they were exactly hitting it off first thing. Bill and Esther were trying to force conversation between all of them, but they were the only ones actually talking. Rebekah was typing away furiously at her phone screen while Kol and Henrik tore up pieces of the pizza that had been delivered and tossed them at each other across the table. Although the two boys were almost six years apart in age their maturity levels seemed to be right about on par. Caroline was picking at her pizza without really eating it, and Klaus hadn't shown up to the dinner table at all. Kol sent a chunk of pizza intended for Henrick flying. The grease and sauce covered hunk of dough missed its mark, landing in Caroline's hair. Kol snorted in laughter and Caroline tried to keep her cool as she dug her nails into her legs in frustrations. Without a word she pushed back from the table and stomped out of the room. She hurried up both flights of stairs until she reached the bathroom door outside of the own bedroom. She turned the knob and pushed open the door without even thinking about knocking.

She strode into the bathroom and came up short, seeing that she was not alone in the small room. Klaus stood, fresh out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, looking amused at her sudden appearance.

Caroline chose not to think about what she was looking at, and rushed on.

" Sorry, but this is an emergency." Caroline defended, turning away from his and trying with little luck to pry the sauce and cheese from her hair. Klaus let out a laugh, clearly still amused.

" Hen?" He asked, shaking the water from his hair.

" I think it was the other one." Caroline quipped, disgusted as she finally freed some of the stringy cheese from her blonde waves.

" There's not much to do when dealing with them. My only advice is to either avoid being within twelve feet of them while they're eating, or just to aim a swift kick under the table." He joked, moving past to and into the hall.

" I'll keep that in mind." Caroline said, letting out a huff of air and reaching over to crank on the shower.


	2. Chapter 2

Full House chapter 2: Family Bonding

Caroline couldn't sleep. The sun wasn't even up yet and there was no way she was getting back to sleep. She was sitting up on her bed, staring at the wall and trying to ignore the countless boxes that surrounded her. Her skin itched, wishing that she could finish up packing all her items and tie up all the loose ends. She didn't like to leave a job half done, but she doubted that the six other people who lived in the house would be very pleased if she started lugging around boxes and prancing around her room at 4:45 am on a summer morning.

Still, she couldn't just sit there. The satellite and internet wouldn't be hooked up in the house until later that day or even the next, all her books were packed up in her mess of boxes, and she had used up all the 3G on her phone on the five hour drive down from Charlotte the day before. Caroline needed to do something because if she sat her twiddling her thumbs for the next few hours she would end up putting her fist through the wall. She crept across her room and tore into one of her boxes that was labeled with the words **Clothes: Work out**. She dug through her dozens of athletic shirts until she found the one she was looking for, picked out a pair of shorts, and untangled the mess of laces on her running shoes.

She got dressed and tried to remain as quiet as possible as she entered the hallway and crept down the first and second flight of stairs to the front of the house. She unlatched the front door and felt the cool morning air hit her face. She took a few deep breaths, grateful for the fresh air after having been cooped up in the stuffy attic room for hours on end.

Caroline took a moment to stretch out her muscles before taking off, running around the side of the house and towards the woods on the other side of the back lawn. There was a beaten in dirt path around the border of the trees and Caroline wasn't sure how far around it stretched, but she intended to find out. She hadn't broughten her phone with her and therefore didn't have any music to focus on while she ran, so instead she counted the sound of her feet hitting the beaten ground, Each snap of her running shoe against the dirt was another strike in Caroline's mind as she attempted to clear all her thoughts from the night before.

Although she was up late the night before, fighting with Tyler no less, she had still woken up early. It had been past midnight by the time she had given up on the conversation, hanging up on Tyler mid sentence and throwing her phone across her bed. It may have been a rash decision seeing as Tyler was heading off to football training camp for the rest of the summer and wouldn't be easy to get a hold of, but she couldn't listen to him chastise her anymore. Caroline knew that Tyler, and her other friends for that matter, were probably sick of hearing all her complaints about her current life situation, but hello? It was kind of a big deal. Was she not allowed a grace period to mourn the loss of her whole life back in North Carolina? Tyler didn't seem to think so. He had so elegantly put it that she should " stop moping and just make the best of it". Well that had set her off. Wasn't her boyfriend the one person she should be able to complain to? She knew that she had to make the best of her situation, and that once she started school in september she would find a way to survive.

Her feet pounded harder against the ground with anger as she ran down the dirt track. She gritted her teeth together as she tried to push herself forward faster and faster, despite the protest from her lungs and leg muscles. Goose bumps were rising on her skin, although she knew what in a few more hours it would be so hot that she couldn't even stand the idea of being outside. She had been running for a while now and she was far from the house as the dirt path had turned into the woods so she was surrounded by trees on either side. The sun was coming further out now, but the rays were hardly reaching through the thick coverage of the trees. She slowed her run to a walk and gave herself a moment to catch her breath.

A branch snapped somewhere in the distance and the hair on the back of Caroline's neck stood up straight. What was in these woods? Should she not be in there? Her heart began to race as she took off running again. There was 100 percent something behind her, she could hear it, and she cursed herself for not bringing her phone with her. Not that a phone would help much if she was getting mauled by a-

A body shot passed her on the trail and her heart seized for a moment before she let out a breath.

" Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me! I thought you were a bear!" Caroline shouted as she sped up to pace to catch up with Klaus, who was running a few feet infront of her smirking.

"Are there many bears in these woods?" He asked amused. Caroline rolled her eyes.

" I don't know. Maybe?" She defended, trying not to ground her teeth in frustration. Klaus laughed at her and shook his head slightly.

" What are you doing here?" Caroline asked, and then realizing the answer was obvious. Duh Caroline. Running. She back tracked.

" Why are you awake?" She asked, trying not to huff from speaking while still running.

"Well someone was stomping around their room at 4:30 this morning."

" I do not stomp!" Caroline defended. " I float." It was Klaus's turn to roll his eyes

" I don't suppose it matters. I was already awake by the time you started storming around. Jet lag" He finished as way of explanation. Caroline nodded. It made sense. Esther and her children had moved to Virginia from England only a few days ago.

"The real question is why were you awake and stomping around at the crack of dawn." Klaus asked.

" Say i stomp one more time. See what happens." Caroline snapped, and then answered the question.

"I don't know. I guess i'm not used to sleeping in that room yet. It's like being in a very poorly organized, peeling paint, stuffy hotel room."

Klaus laughed as the two of them followed the trail out of the woods and down by an open stretch of grassy field. They slowed slightly to a jog, and then a brisk walk, making speaking easier. They talked about nothing for a little while, just filling the silence of the early morning until the subject turned inevitably to their parents.

"It's just seems unnatural. I haven't lived with my father since i was 10 years old, hell i've barely spoken to him since then, and now suddenly he's uprooted my whole life, and is making my every decision, completely ignoring the fact that for the past seven years all our interaction has been a series of awkward phone calls a few mandatory lunches at christmas and thanksgiving." Caroline huffed.

" Why didn't you stay in Charlotte?" He asked her as they tried to ignore the itch that the tall grass caused on their legs as they walked through it.

" Why didn't you stay in England?" She shot back, coming off defensive, but soon backtracking. She voice was slightly meeker when she spoke next.

" I wasn't allowed to stay alone. Even though i've been by myself since April." Caroline said, clenching her fists, her nails digging into her skin. The question Klaus didn't want to say hung in the air. Caroline hadn't brought up her mother in months, and she had no idea if her father had shared with his new girlfriend what had happened with to his ex wife.

Caroline had lived with her mother in Charlotte ever since her father had left when she was ten years old. It had all been sunshine and roses until an inoperable brain tumor had been discovered in her mother's skull that february. In a matter of months Liz was gone, and Caroline was living in their tiny bungalow by herself. She would have gladly stayed there alone and lived out her senior year at home. Her aunt had even offered her father that she would look after Care until she left for university but Bill hadn't gone for the deal. So there she was. In Virginia, five hours from home, and hundreds of miles away from her mother's grave.

" To answer your question, I came here to put some distance between my father and myself. He actually filed motions with the courts to try and prevent my mother from taking my siblings out of the country. Except for me. He probably paid to have me off the continent. " Klaus joked, as Caroline cracked a smile.

" Look at us. Bonding over our mutual daddy issues." Caroline joked as the path circled back into the woods. They walked and talked for a few more minutes before Klaus asked another pressing question.

" Don't take offense to this, but is there something about your father that i'm not seeing? Because so far i don't really understand our parents as a couple." Caroline rolled her eyes again.

"I'll never understand my father's dating patterns. I mean he left my mother for a man and has been dating the whole world for the past few years." Klaus's jaw went slightly slack at her words.

" Does my mother know this?" Klaus asked, amused.

"Oh i'm sure there will be a whole chapter in her new book about having a bi sexual boyfriend." Caroline joked, pleased with her own joke.

The trail through the trees spat them back out on the back lawn of the house, the sun was just beginning to get warm as they started to walk across the grass.

" I can not wait to shower." Caroline said, trying to stifle a yawn. Klaus shot her a devilish look and in that moment she knew what he was about to do.

" Don't you dar-" But Klaus had already taken off running towards the house. Caroline shot after him, as they both dashed over the lawn, through the house and up the stairs. Klaus reached their bathroom door seconds before her, slamming it in triumph. Caroline slammed her fist against the door.

" Asshole." She muttered, tho she turned around with a smile on her face.


End file.
